SYNOPSIS:
Richard has always protected his little brother Anthony. Richard
is strong and fair, while the loving and gentle Anthony is
simple minded. When Richard leaves the rural village where
they have grown up, to join the army, Anthony is taken in
by Sonny, a controlling and vicious local drug dealer, and
his gang of lads. Anthony becomes the gang's pet and plaything,
as they initiate him into their sordid worldly ways. 7 years
later, Richard returns for revenge.
MOVIE
REVIEW
There
is nothing more fearful than a person full of revenge. Remember
how that lady in Quentin Taratino’s Kill Bill (2003,
2004) created so much havoc? And so much bloodshed that the
red fluid from her victims was enough to fill a river? All
because she wanted revenge.
While
we remember laughing our heads off over that movie, we won’t
imagine you doing the same with this one. In fact, it is definitely
not everyone’s cup of tea. It may probably give some
viewers so much disturbance that they’d be thinking
about how brutal mankind can be long after the credits roll.
The underrated
Paddy Considine plays a disheartened brother who returns from
army, only to find himself turning into a killing machine
to seek revenge for his mentally-challenged brother. The poor
thing was humiliated and shamed by the local bullies, and
his older brother isn’t too happy about that.
When a
man becomes vengeful, you better not go anywhere near him.
The no-nonsense
86-minute film gets to its point without spending unnecessary
time trying to explain redundant details. You see the protective
brother carrying out his deeds about 10 minutes into the picture.
At first,
you’d be wondering his motive of carrying out such actions.
Then, through a series of perfectly executed black-and-white
flashback sequences, you see how the unfortunate fellow (played
by a very sympathetic Toby Kebbell) was a plaything for those
mean-spirited thugs.
This is
where you empathize with the older brother’s cruel killings.
What starts
off as simple army guerilla scare tactics soon evolve into
a full-fledged killing spree that aims to wipe clean every
member of the bully gang. When you realize how bloody things
have become, it is already too late, and this is where you
may reflect upon your own notions of revenge and violence.
Considine’s
portrayal of this executor contains the right amount of anger
and rage without stepping into the borders of being too unrealistically
dramatic. In fact, he was nominated and awarded with several
acting awards for this role.
Thanks
to director Shane Meadows’ vision, this film brings
you into its cold and unfeeling world through a gritty home
video style which transports you from scene to scene with
its raw camera work. The killing scenes bring out the worst
in man without being exploitative.
But the
movie has softer moments too. Songs with depressing lyrics
open each killing segment with sentimentality. And the opening
sequence showing how the two brothers growing up in bliss
and happiness is one of the most heartwarming clips we have
seen so far.
So
when the movie closes with an abrupt finale, followed by a
calming wide shot of open fields and lands, we were left totally
shaken and affected.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visuals are nicely transferred onto the disc, and you
need not worry about losing any grittiness during those vicious
scenes. There is English Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 to choose
from, and you might want to switch on the subtitles because
of the heavy British accent throughout the film.
SPECIAL FEATURES
This
Code 3 DVD does not include any special features. If the movie
can already affect us so much with its unsettling content,
we wonder what more special features can do.
MOVIE
RATING:
 
OVERALL
DVD RATING :
Review
by John Li
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